Mother of inmate in conspiracy case said charge 'is a lie'

TAVARES — Investigators Wednesday continued looking for clues in the case of a prisoner who allegedly used his mother as a messenger with a coded request for a friend to kill Circuit Judge Don Briggs.

The conspiracy to commit murder plot was discovered by sheriff’s deputies who listened to recorded phone calls between Robert A. O’Hare and his mother, Virginia O’Hare. Even though the words were in code, “they could tell something was wrong,” said sheriff’s Lt. John Herrell. Eventually they cracked the code, which they said spelled out “kill Briggs.”

O’Hare has been at war with the sheriff’s office since her son was arrested in October 2015 on child porn and video voyeurism charges. She complained deputies conducted a warrantless search on her home, used excessive force, and that the computer was used by her late husband.

“I’ve got movie producers calling, and a publisher,” she told the Daily Commercial in a telephone interview Wednesday. The book’s title will be “Virginia O’Hare Documents God’s Law versus Man’s Law,” she noted in an email.

She said she has also filed a complaint with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

“We’re very familiar with Mrs. O’Hare,” said Herrell, who says the claims are unfounded.

She also claims the jail failed to treat her son for injuries and cancer, and blamed the judge for a ruling she said was based on a lie from a prosecutor.

Briggs sentenced O’Hare to 20 years in prison in a plea deal on 51 counts of child porn and voyeurism. Detectives said he gave little jukeboxes to children in his Mount Dora neighborhood with hidden cameras. They discovered a telescope in his bedroom aimed at neighbor’s houses, computer equipment and a sawed-off shotgun.

Mrs. O’Hare told investigators the “code” was Bible verses, though she did not answer the newspaper’s request to demonstrate, nor did she explain why a Bible verse had to be in code.

She said the conspiracy charge “is a lie from the depths of Hades,” from one of the arresting deputies trying to save his skin in the wrongful arrest.

She claimed her son said, “I would like to give Judge Briggs a big hug and a kiss” for making a ruling critical of the deputies.

A detective told Herrell the letter A might correspond to 5 in the code, B to 6, etc. “But just to add a little bit more confusion, he would write the messages backwards,” Herrell said.

The friend that Robert O’Hare referred to as “The Rabbi,” Albert A. Bowman, 74, said Wednesday he didn’t know why O’Hare thought he would kill the judge.

“To shirk responsibility, I guess,” he said.

He told investigators Mrs. O’Hare called to wish him a happy birthday on Jan. 8. The probable cause affidavit said Bowman denied being asked to kill Briggs or anyone else. “Bowman advised that he believes the O’Hares have the money to carry out the threat due to a recent sale of a home in Mount Dora….”

He said he went to a hearing on O’Hare’s behalf and when he left, the defense attorney handed him a piece of paper with numbers written on it. He said he didn’t know what it meant so he threw it away.

He has denied receiving any money.

Bowman said the two have been friends for 20 years. He answered few questions, instead sending a link to an online article about a rabbi in New York who is fighting child sex abuse by religious leaders. He did not explain the connection. “You’ll have to figure it out,” he said. Later, he promised to answer questions sent in a text. So far, he has not, including whether “rabbi” is a nickname or an actual title.

The conspiracy allegations, the recent statements, as well as the jukebox scheme, “is weird-on-weird,” Herrell said.

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